NJ Democrat Cory Booker weighing runs for governor or US Senate

December 09, 2012|Reuters

NEW YORK, Dec 9 (Reuters) - Newark Mayor Cory Booker isgiving serious thought to challenging Chris Christie when theNew Jersey governor runs for re-election next year and willannounce his plans within two weeks, Booker said on Sunday.

"I am absolutely considering running for governor, as wellas giving other options some consideration," said Booker, one ofthe state's leading Democrats and an early favorite to challengeChristie next November.

Booker, appearing on CBS's "Face the Nation" program, saidhe is also weighing a run for the U.S. Senate.

"Life, ultimately, is not about a position. It's about apurpose," Booker told the morning talk show. "So I'm reallythinking about both offices right now, and which one can Ibetter serve the issues that I'm passionate about and the thingsI feel driven to contribute to."

Christie, who took office three years ago, has been enjoyingsky-high approval ratings for his handling of Superstorm Sandy,which plowed into the Jersey Shore in late October, laying wasteto thousands of homes and tearing up miles of beach-frontboardwalks.

A Quinnipiac University poll released last month found thattwo-thirds of New Jersey voters say Christie deserves to bere-elected, and a match-up between Christie and Booker had theRepublican governor winning by 53 percent to 35 percent.

Democrats say they expect Christie's popularity to subside,and point to the governor's opposition to a so-calledmillionaire's tax and his veto of a bill that would havelegalized same-sex marriage as potential vulnerabilities.

Like Christie, Booker is a charismatic politician who hascultivated a place on the national political stage in partthanks to an aggressive use of social media. The two men havemade much of their close working relationship.

Democrats control both houses of the state legislature, andU.S. Senators Frank Lautenberg and Robert Menendez are bothDemocrats.

A survey by Public Policy Polling released last month foundthat most New Jersey Democrats would like to see Lautenberg, whois 88, retire at the end of his term rather than run forre-election in 2014.

The same survey found Booker leading the pack of potentialDemocratic candidates for the Senate seat, with six in 10 voterssaying they want to see him run.